


Coffee Shop Encounters

by One_Small_Writer



Category: The Last Five Years (2014)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Coffee Shops, F/M, Light Angst, Post-Canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28973997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/One_Small_Writer/pseuds/One_Small_Writer
Summary: Every day since Cathy started her new job at the coffee shop she worried she'd run into Jamie. One day, it finally happens.
Relationships: Cathy Hyatt/Jamie Wellerstein
Kudos: 2





	Coffee Shop Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> The Last Five Years is (one of) my favourite movies, so it was only a matter of time before I wrote a fanfic for it. I watched it again last night and got as mad as normal, so I wrote some Newsies fluff and then came up with this idea.

She’d been dreading this day since the day she started her job. She’d lost sleep over the thought of it happening, worried every shift that he’d be there, triple checked the tables when she arrived and left for him and shot up whenever she heard the bell ring, praying it wasn’t him walking in.

Working in a coffee shop in the middle of New York City, Cathy knew that the chances of running into him at work were extremely slim. There were millions of people in New York, and hundreds of coffee shops to cater to that. What were the chances of Jamie walking into her particular coffee shop?

The chances were slim, so slim it was nearly impossible, but somehow, it happened. It took five, almost six, months, but it happened. Because there Jamie was, standing in line waiting to order. And Cathy was sure it was him, not just her mind playing tricks on her. When she thought she saw him but didn’t, he didn’t look as much like Jamie than he did now. It was him. It had to be.

She wanted to scream, but she took a deep breath and picking up straw wrappers left on the bench instead. If she blended in, kept up the role of trainee barista on handout duty and kept herself as low key as possible, he wouldn’t notice her. _Come on Cathy, you’re an actor. You can do this._

“Hi, what can I get for you?” Her co-worker asked as he moved up in line, and Cathy quickly busied herself wiping down the bench, trying to fight the urge to sneak glances at him.

“Umm,” He said, and there was that voice. Smooth as silk. It was certainly him, she could recognize that voice anywhere. “I’ll just have a black coffee. It’s been a long night.”

Cathy bit her tongue to stop herself from commenting, scrubbing at the clean bench harder. Typical Jamie.

He paid and her co-worker sent him to wait down her side of the bench, and Cathy turned sharply as he stood just a few feet away, looking down at his phone. She busied herself again, cleaning the preparation bench so she had her back turned to the customers until the guy actually making the coffees came up to her, handing her a cup. “Hand this out,” He said, quickly turning back to the machine.

Cathy sighed and brought her lip between her teeth. Right, she was on handout. She had to scream names to an entire room of people. She hadn’t thought about that. “Uhh, Jim,” She called. She saw Jamie’s head snap up and look around, a clear look to surprise on his face, and she quickly looked down before he could see her, passing the coffee to whoever Jim was before turning again, her heart rate and breathing considerably faster than it had been a middle ago. She gripped the bench so hard her knuckles started to turn white, breathing through her teeth. She really needed to calm down.

But then she was passed a cup with Jamie written across the lid, and calming down was suddenly the last thing she was thinking about.

She went back up to the counter and gripped the coffee with a shaking hand. Everything from the past year was coming flying back to her and everything was starting to hurt, every wound reopened, just by seeing him in line at work. She really had flown off the handle.

“Jamie,” She winced as she called it, trying so hard to keep her voice stable but unable to keep the slight tremor at bay. His head snapped up again, and the look he gave her was like something she’d never seen before. He seemed to have the same panic she was feeling, mixed with something else she couldn’t quite pinpoint.

He shoved his phone back in his pocket and approached her carefully like she was some rabid animal ready to attack him. “Cathy,” He sighed, not knowing what else to say.

“Hi Jamie,” She mumbled, eyes burning holes into the container holding straws and lids. She passed him his drink and took another breath. 

“How long have you been working here?” He asked, still trying to process the fact that it was actually Cathy standing in front of him.

Cathy shrugged, looking up to meet his face. “I don’t know, six months I guess. I needed a job, this pays the bills. What can I say?”

Jamie nodded, the taste of guilt sitting idle in his throat. “Uhh, are you still acting?”

“I guess, haven’t really been doing as many as auditions as I used too though. But I am going back to Ohio this summer which is just fantastic,” She said bitterly.

Jamie couldn’t help but wince at her tone. “That sucks,” He said dumbly, not sure how to respond. Once upon of time he would've laughed comfortingly and hugged her, promising that it wasn't that bad and she was amazing anyway. Now he just had to stare.

Cathy let out a humourless laugh. “Yeah, it really does.”

They were silent for a few moments and Cathy silently begged Jamie to leave, or for one of her coworkers to give her something to do so they didn’t have to stand there together, worlds apart but right there across from each other. She also wished he’d stop looking at her the way he was, all he was doing was making this harder, but alas, none of that happened.

“So,” Cathy said after a few more beats, “What about you? What have you been up to?”

Jamie shook himself out of whatever trance he was in and looked down at her. “Oh, you know, same old. I started a new book,” He said, picking at the paper around the cup.

Cathy nodded. “That’s good, I can’t wait to see it on the shelves.” And it wasn’t a lie, she loved reading Jamie’s writing. She knew she’d buy it when it came out, regardless of everything that happened.

“Thank you,” Jamie said genuinely before wincing again, this time at the buzz coming from his pocket. “Look, I gotta go, I have a meeting,” He sighed, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

Cathy bit her lip, a little mad about the fact that he was disappointed. It was a bit late for that. “Yeah, of course, I should be getting back to work before I get in trouble.”

“It was nice to see you, Cathy,” Jamie smiled, giving her a nod.

Cathy managed to smile back. “You too Jamie.”

“I’ll see you around?”

“Sure.”

He gave her another tight-lipped smile and left, and Cathy watched him leave, sighing when he finally walked out the door. She could feel tears in the back of her eyes, but she forced them down and with a forced, fake smile, went on with her work. Her heart was still pounding, and her mind was going a thousand miles an hour, flashing with every memory she had of him. She never thought she’d seen him again when he’d left her, but she had. It hurt more than she expected it too. It’s not like he’d said anything bad to her, he didn’t bring up anything from their past and everyone else around them was none the wiser to their previous relations, but it hurt.

It hurt because he was there. It hurt because he showed up there in his stupid black suits and his stupid face with his stupid voice, sending her right back into her spiral. It hurt because he was functioning, living and not just surviving like she was. It hurt because he still had the motivation to write when the reason that she was hardly going to auditions was that she just couldn’t find the motivation to get up and be rejected again. It hurt because she knew it was probably Elise calling him over and over as the spoke, just like the end of their marriage. It hurt, her heart was aching the rest of the day. Everything was still hurting, even after just under a year.

But nothing could have prepared her for the pain that came with him becoming a regular.


End file.
